Bullet-proof substance.



No. 678,064. Patented l.uly.9, I901.

- H. THEIS.

BULLET PROOF SUBSTANCE.

um filed Au 29, 1899, (lo Iodel.)

NITED' STATES IIERMANN TI-IEIS, OF OHLIGS, GER-MANY.

BULLET-PROOF SUBSTANCE.

PATENT OFFICE.

srncrrrcn'rron forming art of Letters was No. 678,064, dated my 9, 1901.

Application filed August 29,1899. Serial No. 728,973. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMANN Tnnrs, director, of Ohligs, Germany, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Bullet-Proof Substances; and I do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performedto be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement.

In the development of offensive and (16* fcnsive armament-s the fact is obvious that with the improvement in weapons of offense ways and means have been found of constructing defensive. apparatuses in such a manner that they are capable of resistance proportionately to the penetrating power of theshot.

- The endeavor to make defensive armor so strong that it successfully offers the greatest resistance to the force of the shot is most clearly shown in the history of modern armored defense.

For some time armor has been made which forms a great advancein the improvements in means of protection. From the original wrought-iron plates laid over each other we have progressed to homogeneouslyunited composite armor plates of wrought iron, hardened steel, and nickel-steel facing; but the eiforts with all these armors have been to produce a homogeneous mass, the material of which was essentiallysteel and wrought-iron,

and was designed to prevent projectiles penetrating through the armor-plates. It was es pecially endeavored to cause ,the shot to ex plode upon the hardened-surface, and thereby render it harmless, because experience showed that when the shell penetrated the plate the action of the explosive substance contained in the shell would destroy the armor. The deeper the shot penetrated into the plate the more the armor protection would be endangered.

' The development of modern armor shows by experience that defensive means cannot go beyond certain limits. The reasons for this are too long to be explained here, and it need only be mentioned that the iron industry has had to be slowly and progressively developed in order to cope with the requirements of defensive armaments. Artillery is in a more favorable position, inasmuch as the penetration of the projectiles has been al- -read y considerably increasedby means'of the more eflicient smokeless powder. It follows armor is closely dependent-on the development of the iron industry, and it has beenmade thesubject of much experiment lately to replace the hitherto customary use of steel 35 from this that the limit of the efficiency of ,p

and iron for armoring by some other material. It can, however, be stated without exaggeration that no homogeneous material exists or can be made which surpasses iron or' steel plates in resisting powen, All'efforts to replace these by homogeneous or other manufacturedmaterialhave-hitherto failed.

The object of the present invention has been produced on a fundamentally-different principle. I have laid down three principles which are entirely contrary to all armorknown up to now, namely: First, the substance is not homogeneous, but is composed dfflparts of diiferent degrees of resistance to the action of projectiles; second, the shot is to penetrateinto the substance and be retainedtherein,

and, third, theenergy inthe shot is. at the same time to be the cause of the destruction of the projectile itself. These principles have been realized by me by the manufacture ofa substance which actually affords. the desired" protection against projectiles.

' I have "primarily endeavored in the new shot-proof substance to counteract the effect of the modern infantryq'ifles of the newest construction, and this object has been-attained i'n'a surprising manner with the help of the bullet-proof substance described be-' low. The steel-cased bullet of the modern infantry-rifle, which has been propelled by the largest possible charge of powder, is in the substance itself burst into small pieces and firmly held there. This hitherto unheard of result has been attained by careful observation and experiment. It has been discovered, namely, that if aproje'ctile'penetrates-into a substance composed of various heterogeneous parts, in which each separate part of the substance possesses a different degree of resistance to the penetration of the projectile, and in which a portion of the mass rotation innate in the projectile. This discovery led to the invention of the bullet-proof material.

An example of this bullet-proof substance is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figures 1 and 2 are transverse sections through a portion of an armor, Fig. 1 showing on the left-hand end .a soft backing, in which fragments of projectiles'are embedded, and Fig. 2 showing on the right-hand end a metal plate for arresting fragments.- Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail view showing one method of attaching themetallic portions of the armor to the backing-plate.

a denotes fine steel blades about 0.6 millimeters thick and thirty millimeters wide. The strips b, embodying the conventional representation of chain-threads and weft of a fabric, are of woven. material which are soaked in rubber solution and firmly joined to'the steel blades under hydraulic pressure.

As can be plainly seen from the drawings, the

steel blades do not penetrate through the whole section of the substance, but only as far as the center of the whole material. By this arrangement of the blades the steel blades and-the strips of material so follow on each other that at least three steel blades occupya space which corresponds to the thickness of aprojectile. This arrangement is especially calculated for infantry-bullets, forwhich this construction has been primarily designed.

, The method of operation of this substance so constructed is as follows: The projectile striking against the surface indicated by the right-hand edge of Fig. 1 or bytheleft-h'an-d edge of Fig. 2 penetrates into the substance and finds a different-resistance in the steel blades as compared with that ofthe strips-of woven material. The striking of the projectile against the few (two or three) sharp edges of -the steel blades causes" its shape to be altered, and by-means of its own rotary motion and the energy of the projectile it is completely destroyed. It is divided into pieces and small particles, which are driven into the backingof the substance, as according to experiment the projectile penetrates into the substance half the width of the steel blades before it is destrgyed completely. That part of th substance which, as'shown in the drawings, merely consists of strips'of' woven material is only intended to receive the burst particles of the bullet. This part' of the substance, which is to serve as a pro tection against the particles of the burst projectile, can obviously be replaced by another construction. For example, it can bea strong steel plate 0 of one to one andone-half millimeters, which would serve as the backing of the target, Fig. 2. This above described methodof operation of the bullet-proof substance has been. tested by careful experiments, in which the latestmilitary infantry- ;the bu1let-proof substance can principle on which the plate has been manu-- factured can naturally in principle be used. for armor-'plating in general. Certainly in the manufacture of this kind of armor-plates employed. V

Through thesuccessful operation of this new constructiouof armor-plating it is obbe practically sels, in breastworks for coast defenses, and

theflike. The inserted steel blades, corresponding to" the si'ze'and power of penetration of large projectiles of heavy artillery,are constructed of steel barsof considcrablethickness, and these are strongly connected to each other at the back by means of a crossbeam. (See-Fig. 3.) It is advisable to entirely-dispense with the intermediate strips between the steel blades, which, as above described, consisted of woven material, and not to fill up these spaces with substances of any kind.

What Iclaim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A shot-proof armor composed'of a plurality of' materials otfering diiferent degrees jectile, by simultaneous impingement upon a plurality of layers having difierent degrees:

of resistance to the penetration of a projectile, adjoining on lines substantially parallel fr; 5

of penetration resistance, is retarded and lat-- erally deflected, and disintegration thereof v caused to result from the penetration, so that the momentum is substantially neutralized and the divided particles are retained in the mass.

2. A shot-proof armor made up of metallic and woven materials adjoining in planes substantially parallel to the direction of the shot I, to be withstood, and of dimensioirssufficiently';

rgo

reduced to cause a plurality of l'ayersfto be impinged simultaneously by the shot, for-the HERMANN Witnesses: I

PAUL ScHULz, ANTON LIPPERT.

foregoing as THEIISQ: j;

res 

